Broken
by Pachowable
Summary: Artemis didn't know how to talk to a boy who was so broken. Roy had been through so much in these past days that it was surprising he wasn't hurt or worse. Artemis couldn't let Roy continue on being broken. Longshot. Roy/Artemis.


**A/N: I'm really scared of what's going to happen to Roy. These last two episodes really messed him up big time and I...Roy has always been my favorite character, my baby. I just want him to be happy. At least we'll probably get a Roy "The Clone" Harper looking for Roy "No Arm" Harper episode next season. This one-shot is obviously Longshot (Roy/Artemis). Please review.  
**

**I don't own Young Justice.  
**

Broken

Artemis didn't know what to say.

She was sitting next to Roy Harper—or rather his clone—on a couch. They both were awkwardly sitting next to each other with their hands in their laps. They didn't know what to say to each other. So much had happened the past days and yet everything seemed like it should _stay _in the past. But they couldn't do that. They had to confront what was in front of them.

What _was_ she supposed to say? _Oh sorry, you're a clone. It happens. Life sucks. _She feels like if she says anything it would probably come out wrong and send him over the edge. Maybe it was just Black Canary being paranoid. But Artemis could almost feel the breakable vibe radiating off of him. She didn't want to say anything that would upset him—well anymore than what he's is right now.

She sighs. This shouldn't be _that _hard.

"I know Ollie sent you, you can go," Roy says. It's the first thing he's said to her ever since she's arrived at his apartment in Star City. He's still in his Red Arrow costume; he must have been searching for the real Roy.

She smiled, "I didn't know my name was Ollie. I came here on my _own_ terms. I'm not some messenger pigeon," she can't help but respond that way. She shouldn't though. She should be more careful. Roy's breakable. He's been through too much these past couple days.

The boy she had looked up for so long is _broken_.

She wants to tell him all of her thoughts, but she's silent. She doesn't like the silence. Why can't she fill it, though?

"You probably came to see I didn't do anything…_stupid_. You don't trust me. No one should," his voice is hallowing. The voice that was always so full. So full of anger and emotions is now almost nonexistent.

Why does it hurt so much to see him like this?

She peaks out the corner of her eye to see his hunched over form. He's holding his hands together like he's afraid of what they'll do. It's not her that doesn't trust him; he doesn't trust himself. She wants to reach out—to touch him, but it isn't exactly easy doing that sort of thing. Artemis has never been good with _human contact_ or _emotions_.

"Roy," she was almost scared at how it sounded similar to his. "I trust you. What you did wasn't your fault—"

"But it was! The entire Justice League, the Team, everyone, and you—you shouldn't trust me. I'm just a clone." He's gripping the palm of his hand with his nails. They're digging in and cutting his palm.

"Superboy's a clone." She wishes she could come up with better words to comfort him, but he just seems so _breakable_. She wants to do what she normally does when she comes across problems and just complain or stress about them, but she can't. She doesn't know what to say because she feels like just about anything will hurt him. And she can't afford to hurt him.

"He knows that he was a clone. I thought I was _Roy Harper_, but I'm not. I'm just his _replacement._" When the word comes out of his mouth, he realizes what he just says and his eyes widened. He glances over at Artemis—or at least she assumes he does, he still has his mask on.

She smirks. "Wasn't I supposed to be the replacement?"

He's staring at her now. She wants to know what he's thinking—what he's _feeling_. It's hard to imagine finding out that you aren't whom you think you are. You're just a clone of that person. She couldn't imagine the trauma of that—oh yeah, and along with betraying everyone you've ever cared about. Artemis couldn't come to grip with just _what_ he was feeling like right this moment.

Her hand reaches up—ghosting across his face—and she slips a finger underneath the mask. She slowly peels it off and lets it fall to the floor. His eyes are red, his pupils are dilated, his eyelashes are clumped together. He's been crying.

Roy Harper's been crying.

It's hard to wrap her thoughts around that, but seeing how broken he is at the moment, she can sense it. The boy, Speedy, she grew up having a crush on was completely broken.

She needed to fix him.

"Funny how things change," he doesn't even smile. His voice is still hollow.

Artemis wants to do something, _anything_. She wishes she knew how to deal with people better to know how to deal with this. "Nothing's changed, _Roy_," she uses his name as to cement the idea. "You're still the guy that the Team cares about. You're still our _Roy_. It doesn't matter that you aren't the original. It's like saying that if there were another Robin we wouldn't love the first one. It doesn't work that way. We care about you even if you are just a three year-old," she jokes.

It doesn't work to help Roy. He just stares ahead at the dusty walls of his apartment. His blue eyes are darker than usual and glossed over. His ever-present frown is still in place. His whole body is quivering and shaking. _He's breaking_, her mind reminds her. She can't let him break apart. He doesn't deserve it.

She puts her arms around him in an awkward side hug. She can feel his muscles shift and tense underneath her arms. He's still shaking slightly. Artemis likes to think that she helped stop some of the tremors.

Her thoughts stray a bit to what happened between her and Wally, but she realized the moment she entered this room that she shouldn't—_couldn't_ think about it. Wally could wait. Roy, well, he couldn't wait. He needed her right now, and here she was trying to keep Roy from falling apart.

"Why are you here?" he asks. "If Ollie or Dinah sent you—"

It's the strongest she's heard his voice so far. Was it wrong to be glad to hear him angry again? "I came here on my own terms." She moves so that she's sitting on his lap. He's forced to stare at her. His blue eyes were so _empty_. His face is displaying that he's obviously going through pain, but he's trying to hide it.

It's telling her that he's broken.

Her lips ghost across his lips and along his jaw line until her head is in the crook of his neck and she settles into a hug. It's an invitation. If he wants this, then he can. He can chose whether this remains a hug or turns into something _more_.

Whatever he chooses, she just hopes that can stop him from being so broken. "Artemis," he mutters and finally succumbs into the hug. His hands grip tightly onto the back of her jacket. "I'm going to find the real Roy," he tells her. She's already heard this from him, though.

"But what about after that, _Roy_?"

She can feel him tense underneath her hold. Artemis hopes it's form the uncertainty of the future and not something _else. _Her pessimistic side shines through. He was going to find the real Roy and then get rid of himself. He was more broken than she thought. "_We're_ going to find the real Roy," she corrects him.

Roy doesn't say anything for a long time. "I need help, Artemis." She realizes the multiple implications in that sentence. She pulls her face out of the crook of his neck and rests her forehead against his. Their noses were touching. She closes her eyes and lets her body sink into Roy. Maybe together they wouldn't be so broken.

"I know, Roy."


End file.
